Unions threaten to empty the shelves at Morrison's

Morrison's will be hit by an all-out strike lasting up to three days in its key distribution centres unless management talk to unions about changed working practices before the end of the month.

A strike would attack the heart of its supply chain and could leave shelves empty just as the group, which bought Safeway a year ago, looked to be improving sales and settling its boardroom problems.

The dispute bubbled up into a threat of industrial action after Morrison's management declined to negotiate nationally with two unions - the T&G and GMB.

Having failed to agree even on what constituted meaningful talks, the unions will ballot members on industrial action from Wednesday. They expect total support for action, which would be the worst industrial dispute any supermarket has faced in Britain for at least a decade.

'Morale is on the floor,' said T&G national organiser Jude Brimble. 'They are 110 per cent behind action and we will ballot on an all-out strike as well as work to rule. If the management continues to refuse to negotiate, there will be an initial two- or three-day strike followed by a ban on overtime.

A spokesman for Morrison's said the company had said it was ready to talk and had invited Brimble and others to have discussions.

Brimble said: 'They invited me for coffee and a chat. At a local level, managers receive word from central office which they then pass on to shop stewards as 'consultation'. This is not negotiation.'

The depots involved are at Wakefield, Yorkshire, Nantwich, Cheshire, and Ashford, Kent.